1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power source control method of an image forming apparatus for controlling turn-on or turn-off of power sources of a plurality of image forming apparatuses, which is installed in a space where entrance and exit of a person is managed. In addition, the present invention relates to a power source control system of an image forming apparatus for realizing such a method. Further, the present invention relates to a power source control apparatus constituting such a power source control system, an image forming apparatus as a controlled object apparatus, and further, a computer program product for realizing the above-described power source control apparatus by a general-purpose computer system.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, with the speeding-up of information processing or the increase of amount of information represented by the Internet, a digital complex machine having a scanner function, a printer function, a facsimile function, and the like has been shared by many users in an office. On the other hand, request for security of the information held by each user and request for electric power saving to decrease electric power to be consumed in an office or the like have been increased.
Therefore, many authentication systems such as a user authentication when using a digital complex machine and a user authentication for entrance to and exit from a room where a digital complex machine is installed or the like have been proposed. Further, a method for reducing power consumption consumed by a digital complex machine is also proposed.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-342964, a network print system is proposed, which notifies to an entrance/exited management apparatus a user ID included in a print job when the print job for a network printer is issued and judges whether or not there is a user who instructed issuance of the print job in the room, carries out printing only when that user is in the room. According to such a system, it is possible to secure a high security.
In addition, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-92425, an image processing system is proposed, when an image processing apparatus installed in a room managed by an entrance/exited recording system is used, which allows operation from an operating unit when it is recorded that a user of a personal identification number which is inputted from the operating unit is present in the room. According to such a system, it is possible to intensify security by rejecting an operation by an unauthorized person.
In addition, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 02-90181, a copying machine having an automatic power source off function for turning off a power source at a preset time is proposed, which prevents the automatic power source off function from being activated when an operator is present in a predetermined range around the copying machine. According to such a copying machine, the operator can carry out the copying operation immediately.
Conventionally, it has been generally carried out to turn off a power source of a digital complex machine installed in a room when the user is not present in the room while judging whether or not the user is present in a room by means of an entrance/exited management system.
However, according to an examples disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Opens No. 2005-342964 and No. 02-90181, although it is possible to improve security upon using of a digital complex machine by managing entrance and exit by means of a user ID or the like, it is not possible to reduce power consumption of the digital complex machine. In addition, according to an example disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 02-90181 and a conventional general example, the power source of the digital complex machine is not automatically turned on, so that it is necessary to manually turn on the power source of the digital complex machine whose power source has been turned off once. Therefore, the digital complex machine cannot be used till warming up is completed so as to make the complex machine available since turning on of the power source of the digital complex machine and this involves a problem such that there is no convenience for the user.